A couple of years ago, I approached several coworkers whom I highly respected and asked them for frank advice about whether I should continue on a technical, in

A couple of years ago, I approached several coworkers whom I highly respected and asked them for frank advice about whether I should continue on a technical, individual-contributor track or instead set my sights on a managerial track. I felt as if my tech skills weren't all that great, and that I would always be playing catch-up (since programming was a career change for me). And from past jobs, I knew I had some pretty good "glue work" and managerial skills. But there were two bits of advice that stuck out to me and led me to continue to remain on a technical track. One was very practical. For someone with decent managerial skills and passable technical skills, it is always going to be harder to transition from managerial track to technical track than the other way around, so why not try to go as far as I can technically before making that decision? The other was very much in line with the advice given in this talk. I was asked to ignore my current strengths and weaknesses and just answer this question: In which track would you feel less jealous of those in the other track? I realized that I would only be focusing on the managerial track because I didn't think I could cut it in the technical track. If I knew I could pull off the technical track, there really wouldn't be any question in my mind. And so the advice I was given was to continue to pursue the track I was most interested in, until one of these things happen: I go on doing it long enough without getting fired that I realize I actually can do it; I realize there's something else that interests me more; or I get fired and nobody else will hire me for the role I want and then I explore other possibilities.